This has been a heck of a past few weeks. Just meaning it has been hectic and crazy with the election going on. If you haven’t been following along and just tuned in for this class, in America we recently had our presidential election, and it was anything but boring.
We’re not going to get into a ton of the controversy of it all, but I do want you to understand some of the news you’ve been hearing or reading lately. So today we will go over some words and phrases that will help you to better understand how the election works in America, and I will give you a basic understanding of what’s going on with the election in America.
The basics: Parties and Candidates
TWO-PARTY SYSTEM: REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS
First off, it’s important to note that America has a two-party system: Republicans and Democrats. There are a lot of varying definitions of what these two parties stand for or mean. Basically, democrats, who are often referred to as liberals, believe in individual freedoms, social progress, and a role for the government within ensuring equality and protecting civil rights.
Republicans on the other hand, advocate for less government intervention. They usually lean on religion as their foundation, and they support more traditional values with a conservative stance on social issues like abortion or LGBTQ+ rights.
Now it’s also important to note that there are independent parties often involved in the election, but we have not had a president from an independent party since our very first president, George Washington.
THE CANDIDATES
Our two primary candidates are Donald Trump and Kamala Harris
Donald Trump is a Republican candidate who served as the 45th president of the U.S. and is now trying to win a second term. Each term is 4 years long. A president can only ever serve two terms as president, and Trump has proven this doesn’t have to be consecutive (back-to-back).
Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate. She served as Vice President alongside President Joe Biden. When Joe stepped down as a potential candidate, Kamala stepped up and took his place to run against Trump.
